The Value of Biometric Identification for Church Security

Verifying the identity of students and parents is a very important task that churches have to perform each week. Manual identification checks using registry books or even using member ID cards is fast becoming a thing of the past due to several reasons that include:

Data processing inefficiencies

Swapping, sharing, or stealing identification credentials

Lack of a concrete audit trail

For these reasons, biometric identification in the children’s department is fast becoming the go-to solution for churches.

Integrating biometrics into church management software

Biometric identification has proven to be the most effective and affordable solution to verify student and parent identities when entering and exiting the children’s department. Whether acting as a standalone solution or integrated into existing church management software, the convenience and user-friendly characteristics of biometric identification have already proven to be a more secure, reliable solution than manually processing identification checks during entry and exit. Church members and students are enrolled and identified within seconds to maintain traffic flow and ensure security.

What is biometrics? Why use it for parent and student identification?

Using biometric technology, churches can streamline parent and student identification. As you may already know, biometrics is the identification and authentication of a person using unique physiological characteristics such as a fingerprint, finger vein, palm vein, or iris. Biometric technology offers a clear advantage when it comes to identification and authentication of parents and students over more conventional methods. Here are some reasons why churches should consider integrating biometric technology to ensure the safety and protection of children:

#1 Biometrics increases security

Even the most cautious check in procedures and policies cannot guarantee complete security by eliminating fraudulent entry into church premises facilitated by the use of conventional methods like ID card scanning or pen and paper manual entries. Church members may lose their ID credentials or can be victims of theft, and before they find out and report a lost or stolen card, someone can use their credentials to enter church premises. This can be particularly dangerous and risky when checking parents in and out of child care. With a biometric identification check-in procedure, secure authentication is guaranteed because biometric identities cannot be lost, forged or stolen. This means with a biometric identification system, church premises can be secured by ensuring that only legitimate members can access areas that are exclusive to their rights.

#2 Establishes a concrete audit trail

Biometric technology can be integrated with a church management system to keep record of parents and students as an operation that runs in the background. Since biometric authentication leaves no room for error in identifying a member, church authorities can track the activity of all parents and students entering and exiting the children’s area with complete accuracy. Biometrics also offers an indisputable audit trail should the need arise to provide concrete proof of a check-in or check-out.

#3 Convenience

With a biometric identification management system in place, church members are relieved from the trouble of keeping track of their ID cards or perhaps remembering a personal identification number (PIN). Every time someone drops off or picks up a student, all they have to do is provide a physiological credential (such as a fingerprint) as their biometric authentication to check-in or check-out. Church staff is also relieved from manually identifying and tracking visitors by looking up each member ID number on the membership management software.

#4 Speed

Biometric technology speeds up the student check-in and check-out process. From enrollment to check-ins and check-outs, biometrics makes the entire process efficient, reducing the time to process and manage church member identification credentials. For check-ins, staff does not have to take the time to manually look up member or student information when someone forgets their plastic ID card at home. With biometrics, everything becomes quick and simple, and churches can completely eliminate the need for ID cards, which would save money allocated for administrative purposes.

#5 User-friendly system design

A modern biometric system for student check-in and check-out is very easy to operate and anyone with basic computer knowledge can easily work with the technology. In fact, most biometric systems can be set up to automatically print name badges once a biometric credential is scanned.

Conclusion

Integrating biometric identification technology establishes a secure, efficient and reliable way to manage student check-ins and check-outs. Additionally, it demonstrates a commitment to providing quality, convenience, and security. Once the biometric integration process is completed, church staff can focus on their core competencies and rely on the biometric system to seamlessly handle student and parent identification accurately and efficiently.

The following post was written by John Trader, Director of Communications with M2SYS Technology, a biometric identification technology vendor.